


Too Fast

by galaxy_houseplants



Category: The Iliad- Homer, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood, Heavy Angst, Iliad AU, Injury, Keith is Achilles, Lance (Voltron) Dies, Lance is Patroclus, Langst, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Shiro is Ajax, The Iliad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 10:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16575062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxy_houseplants/pseuds/galaxy_houseplants
Summary: An AU of the end of the Iliad where Patroclus, aka Lance, dies while fighting dressed as Achilles (Keith).





	Too Fast

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so if you know the Iliad or The Song of Achilles, you know that Achilles (Keith in this) is refusing to fight because he’s super pissed with the commander Agamemnon. In this it’s pretty ambiguous as to who that is in Voltron, but it’s not Shiro, Allura or Coran, so you can just decide or let it be ambiguous.  
> This is my first proper angst, enjoy? cry? Whatever.

 

“No. I won’t do it.” Keith was stubborn in his resolution- the commander had crossed him one too many times, gone just a little too far, insulted his pride, his honour, his reputation.

“ _ Please,  _ Keith, they’re dying out there. They need you to lead them!” Lance was becoming desperate; the Coalition were down to their last resort, Keith hadn’t been fighting for weeks now and he was their most powerful fighter with Shiro injured. 

“ _ No!  _ If he would just apologise, I would go out there, no problem. Believe me, I want to, but if we fail, it’s on him.”

“You don’t understand! If you let them die, they’ll hate you. If you fight, you’ll go down in history as a hero. Just swallow your pride, Keith!” Lance paused to take aim at a Galra soldier about to shoot Pidge and fired just in time to prevent it. He quickly spoke to the other snipers to take over so he could convince Keith, they nodded, he stood.

“I can’t! It’s his fault, Lance!”

“They’re our  _ friends  _ out there! Do you have no compassion?” Lance was angry- his voice cracked with emotion as he spoke. “ _ Pidge,  _ Keith.  _ Hunk. Allura.  _ We can’t lose them. We won’t last much longer, but we have a chance if you would just get out there. They just need to see you, Keith. It’ll give everyone some hope.”

“You don’t understand, I-“ Keith was almost crying by now, but Lance cut him off.

“If you love me, Keith-“

“ _ Please  _ don’t do this, Lance.”

“ _ If you love me,  _ go and fight. Do it for me, if nobody else. I’ll die, too, if you don’t, they’ll take the lions and us prisoner and we’ll all be dead. Just go and show your face.”

“ _ Agh!  _ I- Lance, I love you, but I-“ Keith was shaking, holding back a sob.

“Then send me. I’ll get in the red armour, put on the helmet, pretend to be you, I’ll fight as you.”

“It’s too dangerous. No. Lance, wait-” Keith wanted to stop him, but he rushed past and grabbed the red paladin armour, cast aside, and put it on before Keith could do anything. “Keep out of danger, love, swear to me, stick with the others-“

“I can protect myself just fine, Keith. I’m also a paladin of Voltron.” 

“Yeah, I know. I love you so much. Come back to me. Thank you. I’m sorry.” Keith pulled Lance in for a kiss. They lingered, pulled close, for a few moments, a salty tear trickling down Keith’s face and onto his lips. Lance moved away, pulled the helmet over his head. In the dim lighting of the ship, you couldn’t tell it was him. He hugged Keith, walked out into the fighting, turning the red bayard he already possessed into a sword. He didn’t need to respond, say he loved him back; Keith already knew that, Lance thought, and there will be plenty more moments to tell him. He marched into the battle.

Keith is fast. He’s silent and deadly and powerful and incredible and he fights like no human, nor any Galra. 

_ Pidge and Hunk exclaim in joy when they see him. It’s working, thinks Lance. _

He fights like it’s the only thing he’s ever know, like a dance, like an action movie character who can do no wrong.

_ Cheers come from around the people fighting for them. Lance cuts down a few Galra who came near him. It feels right. _

Lance is an excellent fighter too. He’s quick and his aim is incredible, picking off enemies like it’s nothing. 

_ He cuts through swathes of enemies, almost at the front of their lines where the only thing between him and Haggar is a few snipers. It’s too easy, he thinks. _

But the snipers placed up high with aim just as perfect are just as deadly. One of them, a lieutenant, aims at his chest. Their guns are powerful enough to cut through his armour.

_ Someone shouts at him to move. He hears too late, he doesn’t see it. _

Keith would have been nimble enough to dodge it, his reaction time short enough to get himself out of the way.

But the sniper is too fast, and Lance isn’t fast enough. 

The shot hits him square in the chest. He screams. His body hits the ground with a thump, his helmet falling off and rolling away and he’s wheezing for breath and everyone know’s he’s Lance. Pidge screams his name. His vision grows blurry, dark around the edges, he can’t breathe or see or move or feel anything but pain and the blood flowing too quickly from the wound in his chest, over his hands, soaking him.

The only thing he could think was of Keith.

With his last bit of strength, Pidge sobbing, Hunk cradling his head, he spoke.

“I’m sorry. I love him. I love you all. I’m sorry.” He croaks out. And then he was gone.

Pidge screamed. Hunk picked him up over his shoulder, sobs wracking his body, and pulled out his gun. They fought their way through the crowd, trying desperately to get back to where Keith was. It took them a while, and Lance was heavy, and Hunk and Pidge couldn’t really believe what was happening, and then Allura saw him and helped them fight through, also distraught.

When they finally got back, they laid Lance down gently and knelt by him, grief-stricken. Hunk choked out an order to one of their fighters to go and find Keith.

The boy they sent was too young to be really in the battle. He grabbed Keith’s arm, and when he asked what was going on, all he said was ‘It’s- he was dressed as you. You need to come.”

Keith immediately feared the worst. When he arrived, he saw the thing in flashes. He saw Hunk and Pidge bent over a body first. Then Allura, beautiful face crumpled with tears, and Coran and Shiro, and then he saw Lance. 

He let out a broken scream and fell on the body, clutching his head and chest. He kept screaming, begging for him to be alive, yelling ‘no, no,  _ Lance, no’,  _ putting a hand over his mouth to keep from vomiting. He reached for his sword, the rush of emotions filling him up and overflowing.

“Who did this?” Keith shouts at anyone, voice rough.  _ “Who did  this?!” _

“It was- it was the lieutenant, he-“ Keith was already standing, grabbing the nearest helmet and armour, before Hunk could even finish his sentence.

“He’s dead. They’re all dead, now, i  _ swear,  _ i will-“

“Keith, please, we have to think about this-“ Shiro, voice unsteady, put a hand on Keith’s arm to try and stop him.

“Get off me! Let me go, Shiro. Why did I let him, why didn’t I-“

“He- he was amazing, he fought like you, Keith.” Allura choked out.

“I wish he had let me let them all die. I’m going. Don’t try to stop me. This should never have happened. The lieutenant's dead, they’re all going to be dead. I don’t care if I die. This ends right now. It’s over.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Smedge or pidgethegreatgunderson on AO3 and Tumblr for beta-ing this and being my angst mentor.
> 
> My tumblr is galaxy-houseplants  
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
